Jesse incorporates allusions to and context regarding American labor leader César Chávez and the United Farm Workers Union. Chávez served in civil rights movements, calling the struggle for migrant and farm labor rights la causa or, the cause. Specifically, he was a practitioner of nonviolent civil disobedience. He led rallies and worker strikes to push for policy changes that positively influenced the rights and wellbeing of workers, especially Mexican and Mexican American migrant workers in the American West. One of Chávez’s greatest achievements was organizing and leading the 1965 strike and boycott of California grapes. The strike lasted five years and led to collective bargaining that won workers higher wages and safer working conditions. In 1975, California passed the Agricultural Labor Relations Act, a major victory earned through the work of the United Farm Workers Union; this act granted the right for farm workers to unionize.

In this novel, Chávez is used as a symbol of hope and activism. As a Mexican American, Jesse has few role models in American society, which comprises a racist, white-dominated culture. Chávez is a beacon of change, positive representation for Jesse and other young Mexican Americans. Jesse works as a field laborer, so his attachment to the United Farm Workers Union is direct and poignant.